CAIRO — Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has fired back at Israel from the arsenal of diplomacy as Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip confront him with a test of loyalties, to Hamas and to Egypt’s landmark peace treaty with Israel.

In two days, he has recalled Egypt’s ambassador to Tel Aviv, dispatched his prime minister on a solidarity mission to Gaza, called President Barack Obama, the European Union, the United Nations and the Arab League for support, and even publicly instructed top generals to inspect air bases and prepare land defenses near the Gaza border. He has stepped up to the very limits of Egypt’s obligations to Israel — without stepping over.

But as the Israeli assault continues, Morsi’s quandary will only deepen, squeezed between a public that recalls with resentment how former President Hosni Mubarak did little to aid the Palestinians during the Israeli assault in 2009, and the desperate need to preserve the stability of the cold peace with Israel in order to secure Western aid and jump-start his moribund economy.

Both sides in the conflict appear to be testing Egypt’s new leader. Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, is wondering how much support it may draw from its ideological cousins now that the Brotherhood controls the Egyptian state, while Israel’s hawkish leadership seems to probe the depth of Morsi’s stated commitment to the peace treaty as well.

For Morsi the test is forcing him to reconcile conflicting elements of his own persona: as the Islamist firebrand who has denounced the Israelis as “vampires” for killing Palestinian civilians and lauded Hamas for resisting an illegal occupation, but also as the newly elected president promising stability, economic revival and friendly relations with Israel’s Western allies.

In his public statements at least, Morsi has so far vowed full backing for Hamas and the Palestinians, winning praise at home.

“All of Egypt is standing with all its resources to stop this assault, to prevent the killing and bloodshed of the Palestinians,” Morsi declared Thursday, Nov. 15, in a televised address in response to the attacks. “Israelis must recognize that we do not accept this aggression.”

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